Animal Welfare

Science in the Service of Animal Welfare

UFAW is an internationally recognised, independent, scientific and educational animal welfare charity concerned with improving knowledge and understanding of animals’ needs. It promotes high standards of welfare and practical, long-lasting solutions to welfare problems for farm, companion, laboratory, captive wild animals and those with which we interact in the wild.

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Recent news & updates

Humans have been farming animals for a very long time (over 10,000 years) and, over the past few decades, considerable progress has been made in improving farm animal welfare (such as better-quality veterinary care, enhanced nutrition, and a greater understanding of animal behaviour and genetics).

Tens of millions of animals are used around the world every year in scientific research and testing. They are mostly used to develop and test treatments for human conditions and to understand human biology, but also to develop veterinary treatments for other animals and to obtain fundamental knowledge.

UFAW's Dr Huw Golledge has travelled to Hong Kong to speak at the Animal Welfare Across Borders meeting. Topics at the meeting include cat and dog welfare in Thailand, the Chinese pig industry and animal welfare and sustainability amongst others. Huw’s presentation at the conference is entitled Diagnosing poor welfare – the need for sensitivity, specificity and generalisability.